The AB postcode hides the widest single spread in Scotland: coastal Aberdeen (Dyce) sits beside Braemar at 339m, one of the coldest places in Britain. A garden on the coast and one up in Deeside share a postcode but not a season.
Lowland frost here runs a little later than the Central Belt. Dyce's last frost is early May, and the uplands are among the latest anywhere in Scotland.
Frost dates for Northeast
Half-month bands from named Met Office stations (1991-2020 averages). Lowland means coastal or under about 150m; upland is higher or inland.
| Garden | Last spring frost | First autumn frost | Safe to plant out | Season | Station | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lowland | early May | late October | late May | ~175 days | Dyce (Aberdeen) | high |
| upland | late May to early June | mid-to-late September | mid June | ~115 days | Braemar (339m) | high |
Sources: Met Office · Met Office
What this means for growing here
Sow and plant out to these dates rather than a UK calendar, and remember they are regional averages. Your own plot can run two to four weeks later in a frost pocket, or earlier against a warm wall. If your garden is high or inland, use the upland row; if it is coastal or low, the lowland one.The Planting Calendar turns these into a month-by-month plan.
Sources
- Met Office: location-specific long-term averages: the 1991-2020 air-frost day counts behind every variant row, including the Inverness/Edinburgh comparison
- Derivation method: GrowScotland's own. We treat a month as carrying meaningful frost risk when it averages at least half an air-frost day, take the last such month in spring and the first in autumn, and express each as a half-month band.